To celebrate the start of production of the new BMW 2 Series Coupe, the BMW Group Plant San Luis Potosi presents an unofficial art car. The paintwork was created internally by painters Luis Esquivel and David Fernandes, associates of the factory’s painting area. The paint job represented a great challenge since the BMW 2 Series Coupe is a vehicle full of curves and 3D shapes. That required applying up to five coats of some colors. For this specific work, eight different colors were used, 6.1 liters of automotive paint and 2.5 liters of clear coating.
It should be noted that the application of the paint on this 2 Series Coupe was done completely manually inside the paint booth at the Plant Training Center, applying color by color, leaving a drying time of 30 minutes between each coat. In addition, it required strict control of humidity, temperature and air purity to maintain the quality of the painting. In total, three weeks were spent applying the colors, two more for applying the clear coat, and two more weeks for polishing and working on the vehicle’s paint finishes.
BMW painters said that color plays a fundamental role in this paint job. The Mexican and German nations are represented through the colors of their respective flags. On the front of the car, the colors of the Mexican and German flag reflect the power of both countries in terms of engineering, design and perfection. In the specific case of Mexico, the color orange was included to symbolize the marigold flower, common in the altars of the Day of the Dead. A couple of human silhouettes symbolize the people working at the BMW San Luis Potosi plant who celebrate an impressive achievement: creating the first BMW vehicle born in Mexico to send it to all corners of the world.
The San Luis Potosi Plant is the newest within the company’s global production network. From its design and construction, it was conceived to easily adapt to the production of different models. Just two years after the start of production at the Plant, it has expanded its operation to include the manufacturing of plug-in hybrid vehicles. With an additional investment of $125 million dollars, the Plant’s infrastructure was expanded to incorporate this second model to the production line. Since 2019, the Mexican plant has produced 170,000 BMW 3 Series vehicles which represents 3 percent of BMW’s global production.
